The Kissing Booth - Chasing Noah

Chapter 16

A/N: This is the edited version of Chapter 36 and 37

...

"Just go to Boston Elle. This isn't something you should be trying to do over the phone," Lee insisted.

Rachel butted in. "Ohhh. Surprise him! Like don't tell him you're coming and then just show up and like mash faces." Lee stuck his tongue out and we both giggled at him.

We had gone out and had a very big supper. For some reason Lee thought that it would be a good idea to get all the appetizers at this Mexican place we heard someone at the hotel talking about. I tried to eat, but I think that the energy drinks were really affecting my appetite. That meant that I should probably stop drinking them, but I knew that I would sneak one in the bathroom before we left for Brown tomorrow morning.

After supper we dragged ourselves back to the hotel. I swear, that was more food than I had seen in my entire life. If I felt like this and I hadn't even eaten that much than I couldn't imagine how Lee and Rachel must feel. Lee didn't want to walk the two more doors to his room so we let him wait off his food coma in our room. As soon as we had collapsed onto the beds, Lee had started grilling me about whether I had texted Noah back or not.

"Guys, we're not going back to Boston until Thursday. It can wait until then," I told them, which just made them both groan dramatically.

"Elle, we can not stand another day of yours and Noah's stupidity. You need to go to Boston tomorrow," Lee ordered. I rolled my eyes.

"You want me to drive all the way back without you guys?" I asked. The thought kind of scared me. And made me kind of sad. Although, maybe they were trying to get rid of me so that they could have a night to themselves. "And I don't even have a place to stay. It's a bad idea."

They exchanged glances before Rachel spoke. "We'll be driving to Brown at the same time. We can stay on the phone if it makes you feel better. And I'm sure you can find a hotel room. They might even let you check in a day early back at the Sheraton." I nodded, but I wasn't convinced yet. I was also worried that my Uber driver would be sketchy again. I could not last a two hour drive with another Melissa.

My best friend seemed to read my mind. "There's hundreds of thousands of Uber drivers so don't worry about getting that bitch again." Rachel and I laughed at his abruptness. These two must really want some alone time. And I probably wouldn't enjoy Brown anyways; I'd be too distracted thinking about Noah.

"Your mom said that we couldn't change our agenda. That we had to stay together," I pointed out.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. You're a big girl Elle. Do you want Noah back or not," Lee boomed. I felt like he was my soccer coach hyping me up before a big game.

"Let's do it!" I agreed. Rachel jumped up excitedly, but the look on her face told me she regretted it immediately.

"Too much movement for my food baby," she explained, making Lee and I laugh hysterically.

"I'm going to cancel one of the rooms at the Biltmore. I think we can still get our money back," Lee explained. Oh yeah. Those two were definitely planning a night together. And I think I was okay not being there for that.

~~~

The next morning, Lee and Rachel waited with me for my Uber before they even ordered theirs. Lee leaned in the window when Marcus pulled up and started asking him a bunch of questions.

"You ever been in prison?" he demanded. Rachel and I shared worried looks. I didn't want Lee to scare him off. It was about to be rush hour and the rates would go up. That was the only reason we had dragged ourselves out of bed at four in the morning. But Marcus laughed and told us that ex-cons couldn't work for the company. He realized that I was kind of nervous riding alone and told us all about himself. He showed us a picture of his wife and two sons. We actually chatted for a couple minutes before Rachel suggested that they should probably get going too.